Constructing the histories of 135 enslaved Africans rescued by the sloop-of-war USS Ganges in 1800

The Deceased (8)

We know very little about the Africans who did not live long enough to be indentured. According to the records of the Board of Health’s marine hospital located on State Island — aka the “pest house”, “quarantine hospital;” or “Lazaretto” — six of the Ganges Africans died there and were provided with a coffin and burial. Costs were billed to the Federal District Marshall, John Hall [1]. One, identified only as “Negro Ganges” was admited to the Philadelphia Alms House on October 29, 1800 and died there a few months later [2]. The fate of the eighth person is entirely unknown.

First Name

Surname

Place of Death

Date of Death

Unknown

Ganges

Marine Hospital

August 9, 1800

Unknown

Ganges

Marine Hospital

August 21, 1800

Unknown

Ganges

Marine Hospital

August 25, 1800

Unknown

Ganges

Marine Hospital

August 29, 1800

Unknown

Ganges

Marine Hospital

September 8, 1800

Unknown

Ganges

Marine Hospital

September 15, 1800

Negro

Ganges

Philadelphia Alms House

January 14,1801 [2]

Unknown

Ganges

Unknown

Unknown

[1]

[2] Philadelphia Guardians of the Poor, Alms House Admissions and Discharges 1785-1805 (digital image, familysearch.com), p 99. Original at Philadelphia City Archives.